Printing apparatus.



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WITNESSES:

A. B..I 1CK.

PBIIQITING APPARATUS. vAPPLIUATION4 FILED IANA, 1911..

Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

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INVENTOR' l N3..EHSNBNBNSHSMSEIwHSHSHSHEo ATTORNEY UNITED sTATEs PATENTOFFICE. l

.ALBERT BQ DICK,

F LAKE FBEST, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR'TO A. B. DICQK COMP4NY,

crIIeAGdrLLmors, .A CORPORATION or ILLrNoIs.v f

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT B. DICK, a` citizen of the United States,residing at Lake Forest, in the county of Lake, in the Stateof Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing Apparatus,of which the following is a speciy fcation.

This invention relates to printing apparatus and especially toprintingmachines for use in offices in printing multiple copies ofletters and circulars in imitation of typen` written-work, for which usethe apparatus would :generally be operated by an unskilled .i5

person. l

The object of the invention 1sv to effect certain improvements in theconstruction.

of apparatus of'this character to the end that superior results may beobtained, the amount of power required in'operating'the machine reducedand the work of settin up the type and arranging them in the mac ine forprinting facilitated. l

The invention involves the use of a typeform and a pressure-rollermovable one relatively to the other while in co-action to effect theprinting, an ink-ribbon being preferably employed to supply the ink.

ln accordance with the invention, type are employed which are movableone linerelatively to another in the direction of the height of the typeand a pad of rubber or other resilient material is provided insupporting relation to the type so that such relativemovement would bemade only by the compression and subsequent expansion of the rubber. Thepressure-roller provided to co-act with these parts is one having a hardsurface; if a roller having a comparatively soft surface be employed,the pressure between the roller and type necessary to secure asufficiently heav impression would cause embossing of the s eet, whichis very. objectionable. With a hard-surface roller, good results andeasy running of the` machine may be obtained and rapid wear and breakageavoided by the provision for relative lengthwise movement of the typeagainst a resilient backing. The :type are set up on type-holders eachof which carries one line of type and the several type-holders aremovable as individual 'units one relatively to another in the directionof the height of the type. With such a construc- IPRINTIN GAIEPARA'LUS.4 v

tion, the inifchine can be made to run more Speciicaton pf LettersPatent. i Patented Mar, 1913, i L. Appylication filed lanuary 4,1911.Serial No. 600,687. A

easily and hence with less expenditure of power and less jarring of theparts. This is due to the fact that with lines of type movable as units,each movable part is supported upon a large area of the resilientsurface so that while practically the maximum movement permitted by theresiliency of the rubber is possible, the movablepart will be supportedmore stitlly and will therefore give the desired impression in responseto ,a lighter pressure thereon. -To provide for such movement of theseveral lines of type each as a unit, type-holders are employed, eachholding one line of type and eachwith its type being type-high, so thatthey may be used in the same form with electrotypes. and the like. Eachtype-holder has a lengthwise dove-tail groove in the upper edge thereofto receive the type when setting up and hold them during the printingoperation. -Each holder consists of .two similar metallic stri ssecuredtogether side by side, and preferably this securing means is such' thatthe strips may be so drawn together as to cause them to grip the type ofthe lineA and hold them rigidly agalnst movement in a directiontransverse to -their length. The preferred embodiment of the inventionis illustrated in the drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan viewof arinting machine embodying the invention;` ig. 2 is a vertical section ofthe same; Fig. 3 is a detail View of the pressure roller and type;

Fig. 4 is a view of one'of the type-holders,

with a line of type-thereon, broken away in part; and Fig. 5 1s a detailview illustrating a modification. Referring to these drawings, I haveillustrated a machine of a well-known type, hav-` ing a support for aplane type-form and means for moving a pressure roller in one directionon one side of the form of ty e and in co-action with the printing facest ereof to effect the printing, andy in the other direction on theopposite side of the form of type to return the pressure roller to itsinitial position. The machine consists of a base, l, upon which areerected standards, 2 and 3. The support for the type, 4, lies betweenthe side-frames 2 and 3, and is adjustable vertically to permit ofsecuring the proper height. Extending between the side-frames, near oneend, is a shaft, 5, having s rocket Wheels, 7, mounted thereon,each owhich accompanying receives -a chain` 6, the two chains lying adjacentto the side-frames 2 and 3. At the opposite end of the machine eachchain, 6, runs on a sprocket wheel, 7, which is mounted for rotationupon a stub-shaft, 8. The two chains, 6, form the support and movingmeans for the pressure roller, 9, which extends between the two chainsand has its ends received in bearings formed in links of the chains.Vhen the roller 9 is moving horizontally in co-action with the type,members secured to the links of the chains which support the ends of theroller co-act with ianges, 10, formed on the side-frames 2 and 3, andextending inwardly therefrom, these flanges lserving to make thepressure roller move in a true horizontal plane. 1 delivery device isprovided, consisting of a hook, 11, carried by a rod extending betweenthe chains, this hook being adapted to enage the rear edge of a sheetimmediately after that sheet has been imprinted upon, and to push thesheet ahead of it oif of the type form and into al delivery tray, 12.For inking, an ink ribbon is preferably employed, this ribbon, 13, beinghere shown as having its ends wound upon spools,.1f1, be-

tween which the ribbon extends over the `form of type. Preferably axisof t e pressure,l roller,

the form of type is so disposed upon the support, L1, that the lines oft pe extend at a slight incline to the 9, so that when the pressureroller is moving in co-action with the type it bea-rs at any one timeupon a -few type in each of a few lines, since in this way betterresults and more easy running are obtained than when the pressure rollermoves from o-ne line to another and co-acts with all of the type of aline at once. For further description of these parts of the machine,reference may be had to Patent No. 917 ,022, heretofore granted to me.

In accordance with the present invention, the pressure roller, 9, is onehaving a hard surface and th'e type are resiliently supported sothatthey are capable of movement in the direction of their length.Overlying the face of the support, 4, is a pad, 15, of resilientmaterial, such as rubber, and the type or the holders for the type aresupported directly upon this resilient pad.

In stating that the roller 9 has a hard surface, I do not mean that thesurface of this roller is of the hardness of metal. rlhe roller ischaracterized as having a surface which is hard by comparison withrollers which have been commonly employed hereto fore and which have hadsurfaces so soft that embossing of the sheets would occur.

The invention contemplates the provision of means for locking togetherall of the type of a line so that each line of type moves as a unitrelatively to the other lines as such movement is permitted by therubber pad 15. With this provision the important advantage is obtainedthat equally good impressions may be obtained with less pressure of theroller, 9, upon the type, and, therefore, au economy in the powerconsumed is effected and there is less jarring of the parts. Toaccomplish this l provide a type-holder for each line of type, and thisholder is preferably so constructed as to facilitate the setting up ofthe type thereon. Each type-holder consists of two similar strips ofmetal of uniform cross-section throughout, secured together side b vside and having a lengthwise dove-tail groove in the upper edge thereof.The two strips for a type-holder are shown at 18 and 19 in Fig. L1, andthe type, Q0, are formed so as to slide readily in the dove-tail groove,21, in the upper edge of the type-holder. The type-holder with the typethereon is type-high, so that lines of type set up upon suchtype-holders may be used in the same forni with electrotypes or types ofthe o1'- dinary form. The two strips, 1S and 19, for a type-holder maybe permanently secured together, as by means of rivets; in that case thegroove, 21, would be of such size that the type could be made to slidefreely therein, I prefer, however, to employ means for drawing togetherthe two strips, 18 and 19, for a type-holder, so as to cause them togrip the type Q0 and hold those type against bodily movement transverseto their length. ln Fig. L1, screws, 22, are shown for drawing the twoparts, 18 and 19, of the type-holder together. Also, springs, 23, areprovided between the plates, 18 and 19, so that if the screws, 22, beloosened slightly, these springs will spread the plates 18 and 19 sothat the type can be moved readily in groove 21.

Fig. 5 shows a slight modification of the structure, in which the sidesof the lower portions of the type are inclined to coact with similarlyinclined surfaces on the typeholder whereby when the two parts of thetype-holder are drawn together a cam action will take place, which willresult in drawing the type down tightly upon the upper edge of thetype-holder. With this construction it will be seen that each line oftype may he set up as a unit upon a typeholder, and this type-holder isof such construction that it may be readily used with a suitabletype-setting machine by which the type are set up upon the holder. Aplurality of lines of type having been set up on the type-holders in themanner indicated in Fig. t, these holders would be placed in a chase andthe form tba-is assembled would be mounted upon the rtibber pad, 15,overlying the support 4. Now, when the pressure roller, 9, is moved intocoaction with the type, downward movement of a type or a small number oftv vpe with which the roller is in coaction, can be effected only bydepressing the whole line of type, or at least one end of that line oftype. It is possible for each type to move downwardly lpractically asfar as if the type were individually supported by the resilient pad',but by lock-.

ing together all of the type of aline, each type in that line is morestiiily supported by reason of the larger area'of-the vrubber padunderlying the support for the whole line of type. As a result of this,less pressure of the roller 9, upon the type is required in order togive the desired impression. The coaction of these parts is shownl on anenlarged scale in Fig. 3, where it will be seen that as the pressureroller 9 moves along in coaction with the type, the pressure exerted byit will tend to press downwardly those type with which it is inco-action, but since the type of each line are supported as a unit, suchdownward movementpf the type directly underlying the pressure roller canbe made only by depressing that line of type as a unit. Therefore, eachtype, while capable of being depressed the `desired amount, is supportedby a relatively large area of the resilient material, and as a result amaterially reduced pressure of the roller upon the type will besufficient to give the desired impressions. It will, therefore, requireless power to operate the machine, and the jar incident to the initialengagement of the roller with the type, and

the passage of the roller I0H of the type, will be reduced to a minimum.

Having now described my invention, what l claim as new therein anddesire to secure byLetters Patent is:

l. The combination of a form of type disposed in a plane and consistingof a plurality of holders each as long as the width of the form and eachhaving a line of type mounted thereon, each holder and its linev .oftype being capable of movement as a unit in the direction of th'e lengthof the type independently of the other holders and their type, a' pad ofrubber supporting di- .t rectly the several holders and lines of typeand permitting any holder with its line of type to yield as a unitindependently of the" other lines in the direction of the length of-Ithe type, 9 roller haVIlg a hard surfaceyand means for moving thetype-form and roller relatively in coaction to effect substantially asset forth.

2. The combination of a form of t p' disposed in a plane and consistingoya-plu rality of holders each as long as the wldth of the form and eachhaving a line of type Vmounted thereon, each holder and its line of typebeing capable of movement as a unit in the direction of the lengthy ofthe type independently of the other holders and their type, a pad ofrubber supporting directly the several holders and lines of type andpermitting any holder with its line of type they printing,

to yield as a unit independently of the other lines in thevdirection ofthe length of the type, a. roller having a hard surface, and means formoving the type-form and roller relatively in coaction to eiect theprinting, e

the type-form being so arranged that the lines thereof extend at anincline to the axis v of the roller, substantially as set forth. v

This specification si ed and witnessed this 29th day of Decem r, 1910.

